InSitu Biologics says it is looking for investors to support its hydrogel-based drug delivery system AnestaGel.

The Minnesota-based firm has developed an implantable time-release drug delivery device it is using with a non-opioid analgesic for perioperative pain management. To move the product into the clinic the firm is hoping to raise $1m through a regulation D stock offering,

According to the firm, AnestaGel is composed of a proprietary tunable, bio-polymeric hydrogel, which “essentially acts as a non-pulsatile organ, providing sustained drug release for a pre-determined length of time.”​

In preclinical studies, the delivery system has demonstrated a longer lasting and greater analgesic effect than Exparel (bupivacaine), a local anaesthetic marketed by Pacira Pharmaceuticals.

While the firm’s short-term goals include completing extensive Phase I clinical testing, InSitu is also hoping to use money raised for a subsequent Regulation A+ offering as an alternative to an initial public offering (IPO) to go public.

The firm’s long-term goal is to bring the AnestaGel system through the commercialisation process through a marketing partner or, according to the spokesperson, even by being acquired.

The base biohydrogel material is licensed from the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, but the company has created additional Intellectual Property relating to the crosslinking technology, tunability of the gel, and drug delivery applications.

“In addition to creating the non-opioid AnestaGel, we believe that the Matrix can be used in a myriad of fields, providing sustained release for hundreds of known, and yet to be discovered molecules,”​ the firm said.